首页
登录
职称英语
Charles Darwin’s "On the Origin of Species" is credited with sparking evolut
Charles Darwin’s "On the Origin of Species" is credited with sparking evolut
游客
2025-04-19
10
管理
问题
Charles Darwin’s "On the Origin of Species" is credited with sparking evolution’s revolution in scientific thought, but many observers had pondered evolution before him. It was understanding the idea’s significance and selling it to the public that made Darwin great, according to the Arnold Arboretum’s new director.
William Friedman, the Arnold Professor of Organism and Evolutionary Biology who took over as arboretum director Jan. 1, has studied Darwin’s writings as well as those of his predecessors and contemporaries. While Darwin is widely credited as the father of evolution, Friedman said the "historical sketch" that Darwin attached to later printings of his masterpiece was intended to mollify those who demanded credit for their own earlier ideas.
The historical sketch grew with each subsequent printing, Friedman told an audience Monday(Jan. 10), until, by the 6th edition, 34 authors were mentioned in it. Scholars now believe that somewhere between 50 and 60 authors had beaten Darwin in their writings about evolution. Included was Darwin’s grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, a physician who irritated clergymen with his insistence that life arose from lower forms, specifically mollusks.
Friedman’s talk, "A Darwinian Look at Darwin’s Evolutionist Ancestors," took place at the arboretum’s Hunnewell Building and was the first in a new Director’s Lecture Series.
Though others had clearly pondered evolution before Darwin, he wasn’t without originality. Friedman said that Darwin’s thinking on natural selection as the mechanism of evolution was shared by few, most prominently Alfred Wallace, whose writing on the subject after years in the field spurred Darwin’s writing of "On the Origin of Species. " Although the book runs more than 400 pages, Friedman said it was never the book on evolution and natural selection that Darwin intended. In 1856, three years before the book was published, he began work on a detailed tome on natural selection that wouldn’t see publication until 1975.
The seminal event in creating "On the Origin of Species" occurred in 1858, when Wallace wrote Darwin detailing Wallace’s ideas of evolution by natural selection. The arrival of Wallace’s ideas galvanized Darwin into writing "On the Origin of Species" as an "abstract" of the ideas he was painstakingly laying out in the larger work.
This was a lucky break for Darwin, because it forced him to write his ideas in plain language, which led to a book that was not only revolutionary, despite those who’d tread similar ground before, but that was also very readable.
Though others thought about evolution before Darwin, scientific discovery requires more than just an idea. In addition to the concept, discovery requires the understanding of the significance of the idea, something some of the earlier authors clearly did not have— such as the arborist who buried his thoughts on natural selection in the appendix of a book on naval timber. Lastly, scientific discovery demands the ability to convince others of the correctness of an idea. Darwin, through "On the Origin of Species," was the only thinker of the time who had all three of those traits, Friedman said.
"Darwin had the ability to convince others of the correctness of the idea," Friedman said, adding that even Wallace, whose claim to new thinking on evolution and natural selection was stronger than all the others, paid homage to Darwin by titling his 1889 book on the subject, "Darwinism. " [br] We have learned that at first Darwin intended to write his idea in______.
选项
A、a much larger book
B、a 400-page book
C、scientific terms
D、plain language
答案
A
解析
本题考查推理能力。根据文章第五段中的“Although the book runs morethan 400 pages,Friedman said it was never the book on evolution and natural selection thatDarwin intended.In 1856.three years before the book was published,he began work on adetailed tome on natural selection that wouldn’t see publication until 1975.”可知,虽然该书长达400多页,弗里德曼说,但是达尔文从未打算把它写成进化和自然选择的书。1856年,此书出版三年前,达尔文开始从事关于自然选择的大部头工作,这个大部头直到1975年才出版。所以A项符合题意。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/4043947.html
相关试题推荐
Theevolutionofsexratioshasproduced,inmostplantsandanimalswithse
Theevolutionofsexratioshasproduced,inmostplantsandanimalswithse
21.Thegreatestachievementofhumankindinitslongevolutionfromancient
Acidrainleadstofishmortality.Manyspeciesoffishcannotsurviveinaqu
Acidrainleadstofishmortality.Manyspeciesoffishcannotsurviveinaqu
Acidrainleadstofishmortality.Manyspeciesoffishcannotsurviveinaqu
Acidrainleadstofishmortality.Manyspeciesoffishcannotsurviveinaqu
Acidrainleadstofishmortality.Manyspeciesoffishcannotsurviveinaqu
Acidrainleadstofishmortality.Manyspeciesoffishcannotsurviveinaqu
Acidrainleadstofishmortality.Manyspeciesoffishcannotsurviveinaqu
随机试题
Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteanessaybasedonthepict
Theydrivehybridcars,iftheydriveatall,shopatlocalstores,ifthey
[originaltext]W:DoIlookgood?Imean,willtheinterviewerslikemyclothes?
[originaltext]W:SoJohn,IhearyouandArthurshareajob,don’tyou?M:Yeah
银行利率、票面利率、通货膨胀水平、外汇汇率以及提前赎回条款都是影响债券定价的主要
H股发行的工作顺序应该是()。①向政府申请发行H股及审批;②实施企业重组;③草拟
2015年1月1日,小李与位于s市的某单位签订劳动合同,约定日薪200元,合同期
以下关于付款管理的方法中,错误的是( )。A.使用现金浮游量 B.推迟应付款的
股份有限公司采用回购本公司股票方式减资,在注销的时候,下列说法中不正确的有( )
常用氨羧螯合剂(依地酸钙钠)和巯基螯合剂(二硫丙醇、二硫丙磺钠、二巯丁二钠),此
最新回复
(
0
)